United States - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

White House, Washington DC, United States of America

United States

May 7, 2026

Washington D.C. 3:28 am

14°C

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Lebanon, Israel eye third round of talks, but no Netanyahu-Aoun meeting in sight

The US appears to be pushing for a meeting between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but the Lebanese government says it won't happen while Israel continues to launch attacks on Lebanon.

Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP via Getty Images)

EU says energy costs tied to Hormuz crisis have surged past $35B

Global energy price increases tied to the Hormuz disruption are driving higher import costs in Europe, despite limited reliance on gas flowing through the strait.

Amirhossein KHORGOOEI / ISNA / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Israel fears Trump seeking Hormuz win while sidestepping Iran nuclear issue

While President Donald Trump keeps pressuring Iran on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Israel fears the American leader will decide to cut his losses and sideline the nuclear threat.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Latest News

Pentagon says Iran ceasefire continues despite UAE attack

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on April 24, 2026.

Macron casts doubt on Trump’s Hormuz operation as France-US gap grows

WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 18: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (R), French President Emmanuel Macron (L), and European leaders at the White House on August 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump hosted President Zelensky at the White House for a bilateral meeting and an expanded meeting with European leaders to discuss a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Diplomatic Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Joyce Karam

Editor-in-Chief

Rosaleen Carroll

News Reporter and Supporting Editor

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Paul J. Saunders

In Washington, DC, reporting on Russia in the Middle East

U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper speaks during a joint news conference with Japan's Defense Minister Taro Kono at the Pentagon in Washington, U.S., January 14, 2020. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts - RC2XFE9HT6N6

Pentagon doesn’t clarify ‘imminent’ threat to kill Soleimani

Statements from the Pentagon throw into question Trump's justification for the US strike on Qasem Soleimani.

Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks at a campaign town hall meeting in Dover, New Hampshire, U.S., January 10, 2020. REUTERS/Brian Snyder - RC29DE9KKN4S

Intel: Warren threatens Trump with insider trading probe over Soleimani strike

Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Chris Van Hollen urged an insider trading investigation into President Donald Trump for reportedly telling Mar-a-Lago guests about the Soleimani strike in advance, according to a joint letter sent to the chairmen of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday.

Security and police vehicles guard Cairo's Tora prison, where the trial of ousted Egyptian Islamist President Mohamed Mursi took place, in Cairo, Egypt June 17, 2019. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh - RC19466F6CE0

Intel: Will US citizen's death result in sanctions on Egypt?

Moustafa Kassem, a US citizen detained in Egypt for more than six years, died in prison Monday after a heart attack stemming from his yearlong hunger strike in protest of his incarceration.

Rescue teams are seen on January 8, 2020 at the scene of a Ukrainian airliner that crashed shortly after take-off near Imam Khomeini airport in the Iranian capital Tehran. - Search-and-rescue teams were combing through the smoking wreckage of the Boeing 737 flight from Tehran to Kiev but officials said there was no hope of finding anyone alive. The vast majority of the passengers on the Ukraine International Airlines flight were non-Ukrainians, including 82 Iranians and 63 Canadians, officials said. (Photo

Iran makes arrests in plane crash probe amid public fury

Iran's judiciary says arrests have been made in connection with the crash of a Ukrainian plane last week that Tehran blamed on a "human error" by its armed forces.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif speaks to reporters upon his arrival at the airport in New Delhi, India, January 14, 2020. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi - RC2RFE9JIN9F

Iran’s next moves depend on US

Iran is likely to choose a measured response to US actions, as long as Washington does the same in return, while at the same time trying to increase US costs of staying in the region.

Fighters in Iraq's Anbar wary of US-Iran conflict as Denmark pulls forces

Due to rising US-Iran tension in Iraq, Denmark has said it will pull most of its elite military trainers out of the country.

Hamas policemen in Gaza City stand guard during a mourning ceremony organised in honour of slain Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani (portrait) killed in the Iraqi capital Baghdad in a US air strike a day earlier, on January 4, 2020. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP) (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)

Hamas-Fatah division deepens with Soleimani’s assassination

Palestinians express conflicting opinions over the US assassination of Iran's Gen. Qasem Soleimani in Iraq, while faction leaders praise him as a martyr.

REFILE - REMOVING EXTRA WORD Chairman James Inhofe (R-OK) questions Defense Secretary nominee Mark Esper during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Esper's nomination in Washington, U.S. July 16, 2019. REUTERS/Erin Scott - RC15A0083B70

Senate Armed Services Chairman Inhofe endorses Iraq sanctions

Key Republican leaders are lining up behind President Donald Trump’s threats to hit Iraq with crippling sanctions.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he departs for travel to New Orleans, Louisiana from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., January 13, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis - RC29FE97O1SV

Europeans rebuff Trump call to abandon nuclear deal amid growing rift on Iran

The United States and Europe continue to be divided on Iran, with points of contention including how to react to the Iran protests and how the United States has doubled down on pressure after the Soleimani killing.

Libyan National Army (LNA) members, commanded by Khalifa Haftar, equip the military vehicles to get out of Benghazi to reinforce the troops advancing to Tripoli, in Benghazi, Libya April 13, 2019. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori - RC1D53312530

Libyan rebels lobbied US energy officials, GOP lawmakers amid oil dispute

Lobbyists for strongman Khalifa Hifter’s forces helped set up meetings with US officials for Libya’s rival government.

Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia, Hassan Rouhani of Iran and Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey attend a news conference following their talks in Ankara, Turkey September 16, 2019. Sputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC1179072220

Can Iran mobilize allies to end US Mideast presence?

Iran seeks an end to the US presence in the Middle East, but can it bring Russia and Turkey on board?

Saudi Arabia Defense Attache Major General Fawaz Al Fawaz and his Embassy staff and other officials arrive to meet with the Saudi students who remain restricted to the Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola base by their Saudi commanding officer, in Pensacola, Florida, U.S. December 9, 2019. Picture taken December 9, 2019. FBI Jacksonville/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC2ISD9FA7KW

Intel: Why the US is expelling dozens of Saudi military trainees

Washington is expected to expel more than a dozen Saudi military trainees from the United States.